I. W. COFFEY, M. D.
When a youth fifteen years of age, Doctor Coffey
visited an uncle who? was living near Delphos, Ottawa county, Kansas. His ambitions asserted themselves early in
life, and although his advantages had not been very auspicious he was resolute and worked his way through the High
school, beginning with 1883. He taught school alternately for five years as a means to gain an end; in the meantime
took a one years course in the Campbell University of Holton, Kansas. He then came to Concordia, entered the office
of Doctor J. H. McCasey and began reading medicine. The office of Doctor McCasey is where our subject is now and
where he has continued since he went in as a student. Doctor Coffey is another of the hundreds of. self-made western
men. His surplus of cash when he finished his college course was eighteen dollars and seventy-five cents. He graduated
from the Kansas City Medical College in 1893. He became associated with Doctor McCasey, but two months later the
latter was appointed superintendent for the insane asylum at Topeka, and Doctor Coffey continued alone. He is a
general practitioner and devotes considerable time to diseases of the eye and fitting of glasses, having taken
a special course in optics while in college.
Doctor Coffey was born in Greenburg, Decatur county,
Indiana, in 1866. He is the only member of the family absent from the home circle. His father, Granville Coffey,
is a wealthy farmer and stockman; also owns a tile factory and a brickyard and is noted as a man of affairs. His
residence is situated twenty miles from the center of population of the United States, according to the census
of 1900. Doctor Coffey is one of four children, two sons and two daughters. Doctor Coffey has been successful as
a practitioner and is an esteemed citizen. He was married in 1893 to Miss Zoa Wheeler, the only daughter of Mayor
and Mrs. S. C. Wheeler. They are the parents of one little daughter, Louise, aged seven. Politically he is a Populist,
has served as coroner two terms and is secretary of the Cloud County Medical Society.
GEORGE W. BURROUGHS.
Both in the field of journalism and as a citizen
George W. Burroughs, the subject of this sketch, has represented the interests of Cloud county. He has championed
with his pen all measures promoted for the advancement of education, morality and religion, without regard to political
issues, public opinion, or denominational societies.
Mr. Burroughs came to Concordia in 1900 to take
possession of the Blade, which he found low in the scale of prosperity. In the spring of 1902 he formed an association
with George A. Clark, ex-secretary of the state of Kansas, and purchased the Empire, which they consolidated with
the Blade, under the title of the Blade and Empire. On an unhopeful foundation, success due to untiring efforts
and journalistic qualities made it possible to conduct a daily paper in connection with the weekly, which is steadily
gaining in popularity, not only because its local columns are replete with items of interest, but as an advertising
medium for the business people of Concordia and vicinity. The large subscription lists afford substantial evidence
that both the Daily Blade and the Blade and Empire are largely distributed among the reading public. The equipment
of the mechanical department of this office is one of the most complete in northwest Kansas and is an item worthy
of remark. The new press on which these papers are now printed, is the latest improved Babcock Reliance, a machine
largely used in the better class of printing offices. It is built to cover a special field-newspaper, book and
job work. The press can be run at a speed of two thousand an hour, as noiselessly as a bicycle, and so smoothly
that a full length lead pencil set on end on the frame is not jarred off. It occupies a floor space of five by
eight feet and weighs three and a half tons.
The Eclipse is a machine that abolishes the old
method of hand folding; folds, pastes, trims and delivers either four, eight, ten or twelve pages with a speed
and accuracy that is wonderful. The presses of their job department are also complete to a degree seldom found
in the smaller cities. This conveniently arranged office is located on Sixth street, between Washington and State
streets.
Mr. Burroughs, the editor-in-chief and manager
of this enterprise, is a native of the "Hoosier" state, born in Lafayette in 1858. He was reared and
educated. in that city and began his newspaper career on the Lafayette Times shortly after leaving school. From
1881 until 1888 he was city editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal and later was identified with the Louisville
Commercial as editorial writer. After having been connected with various papers in the south, Mr. Burroughs established
the Central City Republican at Central City, Kentucky, the only Republican paper in the thirteen counties that
comprises the third congressional district. He came to Kansas late in the 'eighties and located in Dickinson county,
where he became the first publisher of the Hope Herald, and subsequently the Abilene Daily and the Weekly Chronicle..
Mr. Burroughs was married in 1881 to Miss Clara Covert, of Lafayette, Indiana. Two children have been born to them:
Covert G., who is a druggist by occupation, and a little daughter, Dorris, aged eleven. Mr. Burroughs has pursued
his chosen field with a rare singleness of purpose and takes a pardonable pride in the success he has attained,
and more especially in Concordia, where he practically resurrected one paper, and through the combination of the
two sheets has developed a paper thoroughly" alive.
CHARLES EDWIN SWEET.
C. E. Sweet, one of the old residents and best
known business men of Concordia, is a native of Hornellsville, New York, born in 1848. His father, E. Dt Sweet,
came from New York, his native state, to Kansas in 1872, and located in Greenleaf, Washington county, Kansas, where
he lived until his death in 1895. His mother died in 1872. Both his paternal and maternal antecedents were of New
York.
Mr. Sweet's early education was limited to a few
months' schooling. When a youth of seven years he drove a team on the canal, where his father owned two boats and
from this occupation he went on to a farm. When he came to Kansas in 1872, he carried the mail from Waterville
to Washington, and later bought the stage line that operated between those two points, which he drove for several
years. He then employed the services of a driver but retained the line until the railroad was built through in
1878, when he came to Concordia and formed a partnership with Mr. Burtis, under the name of Burtis & Sweet,
and established a general stock of hardware and implements. Two years later Mr. Burtis sold his interests to J.
A. Wyer and the firm became Sweet & Wyer, and continued under this management for a period of ten years, and
were succeeded by Robinson & McCrary. Mr. Sweet was then on the retired list for about nine years, but retained
his residence in Concordia. In connection with Mr. Bloom he opened a hardware store in his present quarters on
the corner of Sixth and Broadway in 1884, under the firm name of Sweet & Bloom. Mr. Sweet bought Mr. Bloom's
interests in 1888, assuming control and has conducted the business continuously and very successfully ever since.
When the firm of Wyer & Sweet retired from
the hardware business they organized a bank at Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, and also purchased a flour and grist
mill as a sort of speculation, and retained their principal interests there for about five years. He was also interested
for a number of years in a foundry, the lirm of Sweet & Crider. These enterprises were not a financial success,
owing to the approaching hard times and inability of men in their employ. Mr. Sweet erected the building occupied
by his present business in 1880. It is a large, two-story brick structure, one hundred and thirty-two by forty-four
feet. He carries an extensive stock of shelf and heavy hardware, implements, harness department, paints and oils,
tin shop and plumbing. He is 'interested largely in real estate and owns several business blocks and residences
in the city of Concordia. Mr. Sweet is a self-made man but has not gained his wealth without his share of early
struggles.
Mr. Sweet was married in 1873 to Emma Height, who
was deceased in 1880. In 1893 he was married to Clarissa Coleman, of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mr. Sweet is a believer
in Republican principles and always votes that ticket. They are members and active workers of the Methodist Episcopal
church.[Shortly after the above article was prepared, the Sweet Hardware Company went under the control of Foote
& Ossmann, Mr. Sweet withdrawing from the firm.]
THE SWEET HARDWARE COMPANY.
Among Concordia's numerous firms with young men
at the helm, per-haps none have engaged in business under more favorable auspices than the proprietors of the Sweet
Hardware Company, E. D. Foote and Karl Oss-mann, successors to Sweet & Browning.
This house was widely known under the name of Sweet
Hardware company, and the new members thought it advisable to retain the familiar title. Since Foote & Ossmann
assumed control in November, 1902, they have been closing out the extensive line of farm implements heretofore
car-ried in stock, but have doubled their facilities for handling vehicles and are opening up the most modern up-to-date
class of goods in this line ever shown to the trade of Concordia and Cloud county. They carry shelf and heavy hardware
and make a specialty of plumbing. Edward Rose, the mechanic they employ in this department, is an expert plumber
and was with Mr. Sweet four years. The extended line of harness that occupies nearly half of their large storeroom
is all of their own manufacture, under the supervision of that very competent workman, Emile L'Ecuyer. They have
a large patronage in this line, as the quality of work and material used are superior. Mr. Foote has been a valued
employee of the firm for six years, hence is familiar with the requirements of the business and favorably known
to the patrons. He is a Kansan, born and reared in Washington county, and received his education in Washington,
the metropolis of his native county where his father, the present clerk of the court, has lived for more than a
quarter of a century. Mr. Foote's mother is a sister of C. E. Sweet. Mr. Foote had an experience of six months
as a traveling salesman for the United States Supply Company of Kansas City, Missouri.
Mr. Ossmann is a German product, born in the Kingdom
of Wurtenburg in 1870. He came with his parents to America when fifteen years of age, and with them settled in
Leavenworth, Kansas. Mr. Ossmann did not become a permanent fixture, however, and vacillated considerably. Reared
in the wagon and vehicle business, he was employed by a St. Louis firm four years. He traveled two and a half years
in Massachusetts, selling his line to the trade in northwest Kansas and southern Nebraska. Mr. Ossmann was married
in the summer of 1902, which had a tendency to make him renounce the road and in November he became associated
with Mr. Foote, as before mentioned. They are men of the highest integrity and superior capabilities, at the same
time conservative in their transactions, and these traits united with the determined spirit inherent in these young
men invariably lead to success.
LESLIE E. ABBOTT.
The subject of this biography is Leslie E. Abbott,
proprietor of the Concordia Steam Laundry, and successor to Abbott Brothers, having pur-chased the interest of
R. J. Abbott in 1901. This enterprise is one of Con-cordia's most successful industries, both from a financial
view and from the-character of its work. In February, 1896, Robert J. and Leslie E. Abbott purchased the machinery
of the Barons House laundry and removed it to a building on West Sixth stree. In 1898 they erected a commodious
stone building on Fifth street, near Washington, forty-four by seventy feet in dimensions, with a basement in the
rear. They had grown out of their quarters on Fifth street, and when they established their new plant the facil-ities
were increased about one-half. But a short time had elapsed, however, when their growing trade called for another
increase of capacity and an addition was built, new and modern machinery added and among other improvements a cistern
of five hundred barrels' capacity-a very important feature, because this enables them to exclude the use of chemicals
or acids. The plant is thoroughly equipped for the highest grade of laundry work. Their service is uniform in excellence
and approaches perfection as nearly as can be done by experts operating the latest improved machinery. A large
portion of their trade comes from the outside. They receive shipments of laundry bundles regularly from many of
the surrounding towns, and also draw trade from the country districts. The annual cash receipts of this progressive
business exceeds ten thousand dollars. They employ about one dozen people.
Mr. Abbott is a native of Hamilton county Kentucky,
but when a youth his parents emigrated to Ottawa county, Kansas, and settled on a farm near Delphos, where they
lived until coming to Concordia in 1889, eight years later. Mr. Abbott began his career as a printer and after
working in various offices at Bennington, Minneapolis and Concordia, he engaged in the laundry business, being
prompted because of the growing need of that enterprise in the city. Prior to venturing into business for himself
he had been manager of the Barons House laundry for about three years, which was the means of rendering him competent
to assume the responsibility of a plant of his own, as he had gained five years of experience, having worked in
the laundry two years before assuming the management.
Mr. Abbott was married in 1892 to Miss May Scott,
a daughter of W. C. Scott, and a sister of M. D, Scott, of the enterprising firm of Scott & Lintz. They are
the parents of one child, a little son, born in November, 1893. Politically Mr. Abbott has followed in the footsteps
of his father and is a Democrat. He is a member of the Concordia encampment of Odd Fellows. Mr. Abbott has one
of the most pleasant cottage homes in the city, situated on Washington street near Eighth. Mr. Abbott has invested
much of the proceeds of the business in the improvement and equipment of the plant and with the precedence he has
gained it is doubtful if another laundry could establish a trade in the city.
W. R. PRIEST, M. D.
The skill of Dr. Priest, as a physician and surgeon,
is acknowledged by all who know him and has placed him in the front rank of not only the medical fraternity of
Cloud county but of the state. He owes his success in some degree, perhaps, to the fact that his life has been
spent in the two greatest commonwealths of the country, Ohio and Kansas. Ohio is the place of his nativity and
the latter his adopted state since 1886. Dr. Priest began the study of medicine in the Ohio Medical College, which
is located in the city of Cincinnati, and graduated from there the same year and just prior to coming to Kansas
in 1886. He is a post-graduate from the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical College in 1895. It may be a revelation to
many of Dr. Priest's Friends to learn that, as a youth, he had aspirations and strong tendencies toward a ministerial
career, being inclined in that direction for several years, or until he had reached his majority.
Had the visionary idea clung to him Dr. Priest
would, in all probability, have discharged his duties as conscientiously and labored as indefatigably to have promoted
the welfare of the souls of his parishioners as has been dominant in his character toward saving the lives of the
patients entrusted to his care. At the age of twenty-two our subject began reading medicine and in the meantime
taught several terms of school very successfully. In the city of Concordia Dr. Priest laid the foundation of a
practice that has increased steadily until it extends far over this section of the country. The success he has
attained as a skillful and expert surgeon has elicited favorable comment from all classes of people, and his time
and strength are taxed to the utmost in attending to his professional duties. For several years Dr. Priest has
supplied the only hospital service in Concordia, which will be discontinued inasmuch as he will be identified as
the attending physician and surgeon at the hospital now being instituted by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Dr. Priest
takes a profound interest in all the plans for the usefulness of this long needed enterprise. Besides his general
practice Dr. Priest is the physician for the Ancient Order of United Workmen of the State of Kansas, examining
surgeon of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and has filled the same position for the Santa Fe Railway for about a
dozen years. He is vice-president of the National Railway Surgeons and ex-president of the Kansas Medical Society.
Dr. Priest has recently added fresh laurels to his career by being elected general medical examiner of the Fraternal
Aid Society during the session of their national convention, which convened in Topeka in May, 1903. and this honor
was not won without rivalry, for there were six candidates in the field.
Dr. Priest was married in T887 to Miss Mary Fitzgerald.
To their union a son has been born, an extremely precocious and interesting little fellow, J. Michael Priest, aged
five. Socially Dr. Priest is identified with almost every lodge and order except the Woman's Relief Corps. Coupled
with our subject's acknowledged ability as a professional man are other qualities that render him popular among
his friends. He is genial, frank and honorable, with a generous sprinkling of humor that has been transmitted from
his Irish ancestry, for the grandparents of Dr. Priest, both paternal and maternal, were emigrants from the Emerald
isle.
Dr. Priest has three brothers, one of them a prosperous
merchant, another an attorney and the third a successful member of the medical fraternity, of Emerson, Iowa.
To Dr. Priest's good qualities will be added last
but not least a tribute to the professional aid he has rendered the young and aspiring physicians, several of Cloud
county's rising practitioners owing much of their start in life to his sincere friendship and advisement.
LONG-McCUE LUMBER COMPANY.
Although the Long-McCue Lumber Company have only
been established in Concordia since 1900 they have gained a solid footing and are recognized as one of the progressive
firms of the city. They purchased ground, erected their own buildings and are a permanent concern. T. J. McCue
and R. A. Long are the parties who compose the firm. They also have a yard at Smith Center, a branch of their Concordia
yard, and handle their trade from the latter city. T. J. McCue has the management of the business and is a valued
citizen of Concordia. R. A. Long is known all over the state and has yards in many localities, the Long Lumber
Company being a familiar term, not only in every part of Kansas, but Oklahoma as well.
SAMUEL CARPENTER
PIGMAN, M. D.
As a representative of the medical fraternity and
as a progressive citizen Dr. Samuel C. Pigman is entitled to a prominent place in the annals of Concordia. He was
born in Wheeling, West Virginia. He studied medicine in the Jefferson Medical College and graduated from that distinguished
institution in 1879. Dr. Pigman began the practice of his profession in the east, but three years subsequently
emigrated west and settled four miles south of Jamestown. In 1888 he removed to Concordia, where his success as
a general practitioner is apparent.
Dr. Pigman descends from an old and eminent Maryland
family, sev-eral of his ancestors being patriots and brave defenders of the colonial honor. On the maternal side
he is transcended from a race of medical men, there having been eight or nine in the profession during the same
period. He is from a long line of legal lights on the paternal side. His paternal grandfather was a noted attorney
and numbered such men as Calhoun and Webster among his colleagues. He was a member of the Maryland upper house
for a dozen years. He married Cloe Hansen, a sister of John Hansen, president of the Continental congress.
Dr. Pigman treasures a package of letters written
by his distinguished grandparent. They are scholarly productions, replete with the thought of the age, and from
their transmission it is definitely determined he was a Whig and disfavored bond-service or the subjection of one
person to the will of another, for he writes: "I prefer western Maryland, for there are no slaves there."
Our subject's father, Nathaniel Pigman, was born in western Maryland, but early in life removed to Wheeling, West
Virginia, and opened the office of the Adams Express Company in that city in 1854, and remained the company's agent
until his death in 1865.
Dr. Pigman was married in 1885 to Miss Mary Moore,
a daughter of Dr. D. B. Moore, who was a resident of Cloud county for several years and during its early settlement.
He is now a citizen of Osage county, Kansas. Mrs. Pigman was born in the Sac and Fox agency, while her father was
stationed there as government physician. Three children have been born to Doctor and Mrs. Pigman, a daughter and
two sons, Eleanor, Craig and Nathaniel.
Politically Dr. Pigman is a pronounced advocate
of solid Republican principles. He was appointed coroner by Governor John A. Martin to fill a vacancy, and was
later elected to that office one firm. Being interested in educational progress, Dr. Pigman was a worthy member
of the board of education in Concordia for a period of four years. He was appointed secretary of the board of examiners
for pensions by President McKinley, during his first administration, and continues in that capacity. He is a member
of the American Medical Association, of the State Medical Association and of the Cloud County Association. He has
been prominent in ^Masonry for seventeen years, belonging to the Chapter, Commandery, Knight Templar, Royal Arch
and has passed through all the chairs of the order with the exception of past commander. Dr. Pigman is not only
prominent in his profession, but he has advanced the interests of his fellow citizens and the progress of the city.
During the active years of his life he has been a thoughtful student and has acquired a broad fund of knowledge,
and this, coupled with his humorous, jocose manner and witticisms, make him a companionable and popular fellow.
JOSEPH H. CLINE.
There is such a vast amount of competition in every
line of business that the commercial world is pretty well occupied with "bread-winners," each clamoring
for success and a preponderance of the almighty dollar, but the old maxim which reads "There is always room
at the top," applies to such competent men as J. H. Cline, who is widely known as a reliable and substantial
business man, owner and proprietor of the Concordia roller mills, one of the best paying enterprises in Cloud county.
Mr. Cline was born in Lyconiing county, Pennsylvania,
in 1864. He inherited his thrift and industry from the good old German stock. His par-ents were Daniel Kephart
and Mary Caroline (Sciple) Cline. They were of German origin, but natives of Pennsylvania, of the class known as
Penn-sylvania Dutch. His father, after farming a few years, learned the milling business and emigrated to Cameron,
Missouri, in 1868, where he engaged in that business until his death in 1882. Mr. Cline's mother died in 1867.
They were the parents of ten children, all of whom are living and scattered over various parts of the United States.
Mr. Cline was educated in the graded schools of
Cameron, Missouri. He was practically reared in a mill, but in 1875 entered upon a regular apprenticeship with
his father; applied himself faithfully and remained with the company two years after his father's death in 1882,
and was interested as one of the heirs of the estate. A brother, George \V. Cline, bought the interest of the other
heirs and still owns and operates the Cameron mills. In 1884 Mr. Cline went to Nebraska and engineered a mill in
Indianola until 1888. During this period he took up a homestead, built a "shanty" and held his claim
four years. He sold at the end of that time and this was in reality the starting point of his actual business career.
From Indianola he went to Jamison, Missouri, where, in connection with a brother-in-law, E. Y. Lingle,
they leased a mill which they operated until 1891,
and then, coming to Concordia, purchased the Concordia roller mills of H. M. Spalding. They were associated together
until April, 1898, when Mr. Lingle retired and Mr. Cline became sole proprietor. The capacity of the mill at that
time was one hundred and twenty-five barrels. In the autumn of 1898 it was enlarged to two hundred barrels, its
present capacity. Until 1891 the nearest mill was thirty miles distant from Concordia and they did an extensive
home trade. At the present time their business is more extended to distant territory. They ship into Missouri and
all over the eastern part of Kansas. The Concordia roller mills were formerly run by steam, which they still retain,
in cases of emergency. The machinery in the mill consists of all modern appliances.
Mr. Cline was married in 1890 to Etlia M. Barthelow,
of Missouri. Her father was of French extraction, was a carpenter by occupation and died when she was an infant.
Her mother died in 1880, when Mrs. Cline was but ten years old. Mr. and Mrs. Cline are the parents of three manly
little sons: Owen Clark, Norman Joseph and John William. Mr. Cline is a Republican in politics and for two years
has been a member of the city council. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cline are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In
June, 1902, Mr. Cline was elected vice-president of the Kansas State Millers' Association.
ELWOOD COATE.
Elwood Coate, the county treasurer of Cloud county,
is one of those men who command the esteem and confidence of the public in general. In light of the above statement
the people are to be congratulated in the possession of such a trustworthy and conservative man, who administers
the duties of his office with strict integrity.
Mr. Coate is a native of the Buckeye state, born
in Miami county in 1843. His father, Samuel Coate, was a farmer, a merchant and for about a half century a minister
of the Christian church, and had pastoral charge of the congregation at Meredith, this county. He was a pioneer
of Iowa, emigrating there from Ohio in 1853 at a time when their nearest mill was eighty miles, the distance from
Marshalltown to Cedar Rapids, and when the country abounded with deer and elk, and the best land could be bought
for $1.25 per acre. He died in Cloud county in 1896.
Mr. Coate s mother was also a minister of the Christian
church. She died in Iowa in 1882. Mr. Coate traces his maternal ancestry to the Eurnases, who intermarried with
the Coate family. John Furnas, of Cumberlandshire, England, lived in a town called Standing Stone. The father of
John Furnas was a large owner of real estate, and because of his wealth he was known as Lord or Peer. They were
members of the Society of Friends. John Furnas had four sons: William, John, Thomas and Jonathan, the latter two
being twins.
In 1762 John married Mary Wilkinson, in the Friends
meeting house. The building has since been removed to the town of Wigton and still stands. In October of the same
year they embarked for Charleston Harbor. South Carolina, reaching that point February 18, 1763. Two days after
casting anchor, and while they were still on ship, their son Joseph, Mr. Coate's material grandfather, was born.
Thomas and Jonathan also sailed to the same harbor. The name was originally spelled Furness. From these brothers
a long line of ancestry have sprung-several generations.
Mr. Coate was principally educated in the common
schools of Iowa, in the pioneer days of that state, and this, coupled with the duties of the farm, curtailed his
educational advantages. At the youthful age of twenty he enlisted in Company I, Second Iowa Cavalry, for three
years, serving until hostilities ceased, a period of eighteen months. During this time he was in the thickest of
the fight, participating in eleven hard fought battles and numerous skirmishes. At Nashville their brigade was
under fire continuously for several weeks. His brigade was under the command of General Coon, and their division
commander was General Ed. Hatch. After the war Mr. Coate returned to Iowa and established himself in the harness
business, but owing to ill health discontinued that line and learned the carpenter trade, which he followed for
eighteen years. In 1885 he came to Kansas and settled in Oakland township, where four years prior he had secured
a quarter section of land. He now owns a half section, which is under a high state of cultivation, with modern
improvements. He is also a horticulturist and has an orchard of over three hundred peach trees, a large apple orchard,
apricots and small fruits.
Mr. Coate was born and reared in the faith and
principles of the Republican party and says he remains the same politically, but does not affiliate with them because
they have left him, and he now votes with the Populist party, which elected him to office in 1899. The office for
eight years had been held by the Populists. Mr. Coate was nominated by friends, and at their earnest solicitation
allowed his name to go before the conven-tion, but afterward did his part in the campaign. Prior to being elected
to his present office Mr. Coate had served in minor offices for many years.
He was married in 1866 to Susan Elleman, a daughter
of Joseph and Anna Elleman, of Ohio. Mrs. Coate died two years subsequently, leaving an infant son, Oron M. He
is a resident of Iowa and a member of the Economy Manufacturing and Supply Company, of Des Moines. Mr. Coate was
married to Sarah Diefenbaugh in 1869. She is a daughter of David and Christina Diefenbaugh, of Lewisburg, Preble
county, Ohio. To this second marriage three children have been born, two of whom are living, both sons. Herman
E., who now lives on and operates the farm, filled the position as deputy treasurer in 1893. He was previously
employed as a clerk in the county clerk's office. For two years he was bookkeeper in the insane asylum of Topeka,
but when Governor Morrill was inaugurated to office the Populists were ousted, and, being of that political faith,
he had to go. H. E. Coate s family consists of a wife and two daughters, Mabel and Viva. The other son is Samuel
Rush, who is his father's deputy. He was reared on the farm and received his early education in the school of that
district. In June, 1895, he entered the Kansas Christian College, of Lincoln county, Kansas, and took a two-years'
course. He owns a farm in Nebraska, where he had lived several years before assuming his position in the treasurer's
office. His wife was Rose Mills, who came with her parents to Kansas from Iowa, when she was a child, and located
in Lincoln county. Her father was John Mills and now resides in California. Bessie Wilkins, the motherless child
of Andrew Wilkins, of Nebraska, found a home with the family of Elwood Coate. Elwood Coate was one of a family
of ten children, nine of whom are living, and all have families in various parts of the country. Mrs. Rose, president
of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of Concordia, is a sister, and J. W. Coate, who lives in the southern
part of Cloud county, is a brother. He has a brother and sister in Stuttgart, Arkansas, two sisters and a brother
in Iowa and one in Oklahoma. Mr. Coate was not wholly satisfied with Kansas until the year of the World's Fair,
when he, with his wife and son, visited Iowa and found the attractions there were less than those of Kansas. He
has been successful from a financial standpoint and does not regret having made a home in the Sunflower state.
The Coate family have a pleasant home on West Ninth and Washington streets, in Concordia, but expect to return
to the farm when Mr. Coate's office days are over and resume stock raising. The family are all members and active
workers in the Christian church.
GAUDREAU BROTHERS.
The illustrated interior gives an idea of the well
appointed meat market of the enterprising Gaudreau Brothers, successors to J. C. Paradis. The firm is comprised
of Henry and F. F. Gaudreau, who were born in Kankakee, Illinois, but who were practically reared in Cloud county.
Their father, the late Nelson Gaudreau, died a few years following his removal to Buffalo township in 1887. The
elder member of the firm is a man of family. The junior member, F. F. Gaudreau, was in the employ of J. C. Paradis
for about five years, therefore when they assumed control of the business in September, 1902, were well experienced
in catering to the trade. Their line of fresh and salt meats supply many of Concordia's best homes. They are young
men of sterling worth and have established a first-class business. with prospects of excellent success.
CONCORDIA ICE AND COLD STORAGE COMPANY.
The citizens of Concordia can now boast of cooling
their beverages, freezing their own ice cream and the score of other uses for which ice is appropriated, by an
article pure and unadulterated, manufactured in their own city. This extensive factory, recently instituted in
Concordia, promises to lead the vanguard in the production of ice and furnish the trade of many adjoining cities
and villages. Their capacity is fifteen tons daily. This enterprise, with its storage capacity of fifty cars, filled
a long felt want when they began operations about the middle of October, 1902,
The firm and its officials are composed of John Stewart, president; George G. Hill, secretary; A. Hirsch, vice-president,
and Charles A. Betournay, treasurer and manager. This well-known firm seems to have labored with the idea that
their reputation was their capital and consequently used nothing but the best of material in the building of their
plant, a massive stone structure-the native product-and expended thirty-five thousand dollars in its construction.
The machinery, which is of the most modern and approved patterns, is all in duplicate form, this precaution is
used to overcome the necessity of having the work retarded in case of breakdowns and to hold the compartments at
a certain temperature, as their contracts specify. The engines used are fifty-horse power. The product of this
factory is absolutely pure and as colorless as die most brilliant crystal. The water is first distilled, then skimmed
to remove any foreign matter that might be floating on the surface; secondly it is reboiled to drive every particle
of air out, that it may freeze solid; thirdly it is filtered through a quartz filter and again through a charcoal
purifier and lastly through a sponge filter. The company also have their own dynamo. Their location in the vicinity
of the depots is a convenient feature, with reference to transit. To this enterprise the city of Concordia is indebted
to an extent impossible to estimate.
ALVIN LEE WILMOTH.
It is a quarter of a century since Alvin Lee Wilmoth,
the subject of this sketch, became a resident of Kansas. Since 1890 he has been a leading citizen of Concordia,
one who has been closely identified with the professional and business interests of the city. The Wilmoths settled
in Marshall county, where his father continued to reside until about a year ago, when he removed to Wabaunsee county.
Nearly forty years ago Mr. Wilmoth's parents emigrated from Ohio, their native state, to Jasper county, Iowa, where
our subject was born in 1857. Their residence in Iowa was brief, however, and they returned to their former Ohio
home and later to Kansas, the "Eldorado" of the west. The literary education of Mr. Wilmoth was received
in the common schools and in the State Normal School of Warrensburg, Missouri. Following this institution he entered
the State University at Lawrence, and after finishing a course in the law department located in Concordia, where
he formed an association with the late E. L. Ackley, who was a classmate in the university. The combination was
a prosperous one, building up an extended clientage in a comparatively brief time. In 1897 W. W. Caldwell joined
them and the firm became Caldwell, Ackley & Wilmoth, continuing as such until the untimely death of Mr. Ackley
in August, 1901, when it became Caldwell & Wilmoth. Mr. Wilmoth is a firm believer in Republican principles
and was elected by his party to the office of county attorney in 1894 and again in 1896. He carried Cloud county
at a time when the country was ruled by Populists and was the only Republican elected on the ticket, with the exception
of Mrs. Brierley, of Glasco. who was elected superintendent of schools. That he was an attorney of ability and
integrity and considered so by the people is evidenced by the overwhelmingly large vote he received. He ran ahead
of the McKinley electoral ticket in Cloud county in 1896 by over one hundred votes.
Succeeding Mr. Ackley, Mr. Wilmoth served two terms
as regent of the State University. For ten years he has been attorney for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. In educational
matters he is especially interested and has been a faithful member of the school board for six years.
Mr. Wilmoth was married in 1802 to Miss Emma T.
Dunn, a daughter of Dr. D. M. Dunn, now a resident of Minneapolis. Kansas. Dr. Dunn is a pioneer in the state and
has been active in many enterprises aside from a professional career. He was located at Colby during the "boom"
days of that town and established the well-known and unique sheet, The Thomas County Cat, which was celebrated
for its originality. Mrs. Wilmoth is a graduate of the State University and while a student there met her future
husband. After her graduation she became a teacher in the university and taught both before and after her marriage
to Mr. Wilmoth. To their union two bright little sons have been born, William Alvin and John David, aged six and
two years, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Wilmoth are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally
Mr. Wilmoth is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, is a past chancellor and a member of the grand lodge.
He is also identified with the Order of Elks.
Having been self-sustaining since a youth and having
earned his own way through the university, Mr. Wilmoth adopted early in life the habits of industry and perseverance,
which brought their returns in after years, and his influence for good is felt in the advancement of measures for
the progression of all worthy promotions. The comforts of a pleasant brick cottage, at the foot of West Sixth street,
is not the least of Mr. Wilmoth's requitals.
ASA FORTNEY.
Asa Fortney, the present clerk of the court of
Cloud county, comes from good old Virginia stock of French origin. The name was formerly spelled Fordney, but after
becoming American citizens the name was changed by dropping the "d" and anglicized by substituting the
"t." The name Fortney is found in nearly every state of the Union, a considerable number being in the
ministry, some are physicians, others are members of the legal profession, many have been educators in both public
school work and in the higher institutions of learning, some have been superintendents of public instruction and
others statesmen. Mr. Fortney's grandfather, Daniel Fortney, was a native of France and married into the Pickenpaugh
family, of whom those of Morgantown, Virginia, are a branch. She was a German woman and taught their children to
speak their native tongue. They emigrated to America in the seventeenth century and settled in Maryland, near Harpers
Ferry, where they bought land and farmed several years. Rumors reached them of a country in the far west (Virginia),
where the buffalo or bison and the lithe-limbed deer wandered at will. Animated with a desire to visit this remote
region they sold their possessions in Maryland and settled in Virginia in 1795. They bought land in Preston county,
Virginia (now included in Monongalia county, West Virginia), where they lived until their death. Their sons were
Daniel, Henry, Jacob and John. The sons of Daniel were John, David, William P. and Barton. The sons of Henry were
Hunter, David M., Aquilla and Jacob. The sons of John were Elisha, Buckner, John H., Caleb and Thomas. The sons
of Hunter were Elisha, George, Aquilla, John and Asa- the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Fortney received his rudimentary education
in the common schools of Virginia, followed by a two-years' course in the Mount Union College. He spent his earlier
life in educational work and was a very successful teacher. He had just attained his majority when he came to Kansas
in 1877. He came on a sort of prospecting tour, allured by the desire of obtaining land, and purchased one hundred
and sixty acres, which he rented. Not being pleased with the newness of Kansas, as a place of residence, he located
temporarily in Illinois and taught school for one year. The following year he bought another quarter section of
Kansas land. For a year he vacillated between the Sunflower state, Illinois and Virginia. But that indefinable
something that draws people back again who ever tarries within her borders, brought Mr. Fortney to Kansas soil
again in 1879. Having given his attention to ministerial work in the meantime, he supplied the Methodist Episcopal
churches of Seappo and Fairview, and the next year Greenleaf circuit. He ministered one year at Woodbine, Dickinson
county, and since then he has been engaged in farming and stock raising. He owns three quarter sections of land
in Sibley and Lawrence townships. Mr. Fortney's father was a Whig and one of the organizers of the Republican party
and he has inherited his father's principles. He was nominated by the Republican party at their convention in 1902
and was elected with an easy victory-was high man on every ballot.
Mrs. Fortney, before her marriage, was Adie McKinhey
and was reared in the same Virginia community with her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Fortney are the parents of two children,
a daughter and a son. Elizabeth Ellen is a young lady of eighteen years, who has not yet finished school. William
John is a school boy of sixteen years. Fraternally Mr. Fortney is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
Concordia Encampment. That Mr. Fortney will prove a capable, efficient and courteous official is conceded by all
who know him. As a citizen he is held in high esteem and in his home life maintains all the traditions of true
southern hospitality.
TAYLOR & AHLBERG.
The firm of Taylor & Ahlberg carry one of the
best-selected stocks of footwear in northwest Kansas. The accompanying illustration shows the well-appointed interior
of their exclusive shoe store, which would be considered a first-class enterprise in a much larger city than Concordia.
The senior member of the firm is J. B. Taylor, who came to Concordia in the interests of the J. Green Lumber Company,
and was with that concern four years, followed by three years in the grocery business with Peter Betournay. Severing
his connection with these firms he bought grain for various dealers and for himself, and is still interested in
that line. Mr. Taylor is a native of Stanford, Lincoln county, Kentucky, where he received a common school education,
alternating his studies with farm work. He was married in 1884 to Mary J. (Vaughn) Perkins, a daughter of Charles
Vaughn, of Iowa, where she was born. Politically Mr. Taylor is a Democrat and socially he is identified with the
Knights of Pythias and Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Since establishing their present business in Concordia
in 1896, Taylor & Ahlberg have demonstrated their ability to cater to the needs of the public in their line
and have built up a large patronage. Their store is on Sixth street, near the Bon Marche.
Alfred Ahlberg, the junior member of the firm,
is a son of Charles Ahlberg and the youngest of a family of eight children. His father died when Mr. Ahlberg was
a small boy, and his mother was deceased in 1885. Mr. Ahlberg was born in Northport, Sweden, in 1859. When thirteen
years of age he apprenticed himself to learn the shoemaker's trade, which he acquired very thoroughly, serving
twelve years, half of that time without receiving any remuneration for his labors. In 1885 he emigrated to America
and after a residence of six months in Clay Center, Kansas, . removed to Concordia, where he worked at his trade
very successfully until 1896, when he formed his present association with Mr. Taylor. There is no better workman
to be found than Mr. Ahlberg and his knowledge o£ footwear asserts itself in their large and superior class
of goods. Mr. Ahlberg was educated in the common schools of Sweden. He is a quiet, unassuming business man, who
has acquired a good start in life by his industry, integrity and personal efforts.
HONORABLE WILLIAM
WILSON CALDWELL.
Prominent in the business circles of Concordia
stands the name of W. W. Caldwell, where for years he has been one of the most enterprising and public-spirited
citizens. To him the city is indebted for several of its most pretentious structures, among them the Caldwell Bank
building, Layton & Neilson block and the "Caldwell Hotel." The latter, just completed, is said to
be one of the most elegantly equipped and appointed hotels in northwest Kansas. The emigrant of the Caldwell family
was John Caldwell, who was born and reared in County Antrim, Ireland. Tired of the poverty and oppression which
English rule produced in his native land, he sought the freedom of America and took passage for the United States
in 1809. But persecution followed him into the New World, for in 1811 he was taken from an American vessel by a
British man-of-war and forced into severe service, as was the custom of those times. He deserted at Montreal one
year later and enlisted in the United States army and served until the close of hostilities. He subsequently married
Miss Mary McClure and established a home in Ross county, Ohio, where James, the father of our subject, was born.
His mother before her marriage was Miss Elizabeth Shepard, of Athens, Ohio. She also came of English stock.
James Caldwell moved to Iowa in the early settlement of that state, where W. W. Caldweil was born in Jefferson
county, November 2, 1840. He grew to manhood on his father's farm, combining the duties thereon with attendance
at school in Agency City, finishing his education by attending for one year the Denmark (Iowa) Academy.
He served in the civil war with H. B. Johnson's
Independent Missouri Battery. After the war clouds had passed over he began the study of law with R. H. Gilmore,
of Keokuk, Iowa. In March, 1866, he removed to Savannah, Missouri, where he pursued his studies under the instruction
of the late James W. Strong, of St. Joseph, Missouri. Mr. Caldwell was admitted to the bar in 1870 by Judge Isaac
C. Parker, of St. Joseph. While in Savannah he served as deputy clerk of the circuit court and was elected mayor
of that city. He came to Concordia in 1885, and for several years was associated with Hale H. Cook and F. S. Ellis
under the firm name of Caldwell, Ellis & Cook. They had a large clientage in the courts throughout northern
Kansas. In 1897 Mr. Caldwell organized the firm of Caldwell, Wilmoth & Ackley. and conducted an extensive commercial
and corporation practice. Since Mr. Ackley's death, in 1901, the firm has been Caldwell & Wilmoth. Mr. Caldwell
organized the Citizens' National Bank of Concordia in 1887, and was president of that institution until its consolidation
with the First National Bank of Concordia in 1898. He is an ardent Republican in politics and has been a member
of the Republican state central committee, and chairman of the Republican state central committee of Cloud county.
In 1892 he was on the Republican national ticket for presidential elector and was a delegate to the national Republican
convention which convened at Philadelphia, January 19, 1900. Mr. Caldwell has been twice mayor of Concordia and
was the candidate in the last city election. He was defeated by S. C. Wheeler by one vote, after the hardest fought
battle in the history of Concordia: Mr. Caldwell is a leader in politics, is authority on financial issues and
one of the first to expose the fallacy of the free coinage of silver. He was an advocate of the maintenance of
the "existing gold standard" long before it was written in the St. Louis platform in 1896. Mr. Caldwell
was married in 1869 to Camilla A. Kellogg, of Keokuk, Iowa. Four children have been born to them: E .W., of New
York City, J. R, of Hastings, Nebraska, Mrs. J. P. Barrett, of Concordia, and Miss Edith, who lives at home. Eugene
W. Caldwell, their eldest son, has attained success and prominence in the professional world. Although but thirty-two
years of age he has spent a year on the continent, is lecturer at Bellevue hospital, New York City, and the author
of a scientific work for the use of the medical fraternity, entitled, The Practical Application of Roentgen Rays
in Therapeutics." He is also director of the Edward N. Gibbs Memorial X-Ray Laboratory, and the Bellevue Hospital
Medical College.
